#Pathology assistant programs professional#

To earn the PA (ASCP) designation, an individual must now graduate from a NAACLS-accredited pathologists’ assistant training program and subsequently pass the ASCP board of certification examination.Įvery three years, a certified pathologists’ assistant must demonstrate sufficient continuing medical education to maintain certification. The American Association of Pathologists’ Assistants and the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) partnered to achieve national certification for pathologists’ assistants in 2004. (One program offers a bachelor’s degree.) The first year is a didactic (classroom/lecture) setting and the second year consists of clinical/clerkship rotations in a hospital/laboratory with hands-on experience. Pathologists’ assistant programs are approximately two years of intense training, culminating in a master’s degree. The NAACLS has a list of accredited pathologists’ assistants programs on its website. See specific programs for admission criteria. Biological sciences (human anatomy and physiology preferred).Prerequisite undergraduate courses include: Ten pathologists’ assistant programs have been accredited by the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences (NAACLS), and all but one require a bachelor’s degree in a science field. The prospects for finding employment are excellent for the foreseeable future. With a pathologists’ assistant degree, you can find a job virtually anywhere in the United States, as well as in Canada and Australia.

Sign-on, retention and annual bonuses are commonplace. Factors that influence a pathologists’ assistant’s salary include experience, workload, setting and regional cost of living. New program graduate salaries range from $75,000 to $90,000 with experienced pathologists’ assistants earning $100,000 or more annually. Some pathologists’ assistants are even self-employed business owners providing their pathology expertise via long- and short-term contract (locum tenens). Although the majority of pathologists’ assistants work in academic (medical school/university) and community hospitals, they can also be employed in other areas such as private pathology laboratories, forensic pathology laboratories and morgues, reference laboratories, government healthcare systems and medical teaching facilities. Pathologists’ assistants perform in a wide scope of clinical practices. Working Conditions | Academic Requirements | Resources Working Conditions Performance of administrative, budgetary, supervisory, teaching and other such duties as may be appropriate and assignedīy performing such a wide array of tasks, pathologists’ assistants make a significant contribution to a laboratory’s or pathology practice’s effectiveness and cost efficiency.Procurement of samples for biospecimen banking.Training of pathology residents/fellows, pathologists’ assistant students and other pathology lab personnel (as needed).Instruction of anatomy and physiology, gross pathology, photography and gross dissection skills for surgical specimens as well as autopsy techniques.Preparation of human postmortem examinations.Preparation, gross description and dissection of human tissue surgical specimens.Under the direction and supervision of a pathologist, a pathologists’ assistant may provide the following:

#Pathology assistant programs professional#

A pathologists’ assistant is an intensively trained allied health professional who provides anatomic pathology services under the direction and supervision of a licensed, board-certified or board-eligible pathologist. A pathologists’ assistant is qualified to perform all of the surgical and autopsy functions of a pathologist leading up to, but not including, the diagnosis.